What describes tone?

• A. The story's central message about life.
• B. The sequence of events in the plot.
• C. The author’s tone is the narrator's gender.
• D. The author's attitude toward the subject or audience.

Answer: (D)

Tone is the author's attitude toward the subject or toward the audience, shown through the writer's word choice, sentence structure, and details. This attitude shapes how the reader experiences the text—whether it feels playful, serious, ironic, hopeful, or critical.

The best description here is that tone reflects the author's attitude toward the subject or audience. The other ideas point to different elements: theme is about the underlying message, the sequence of events describes plot, and a narrator’s gender is not what tone measures. When you notice how the author chooses words and constructs sentences to convey a particular mood or stance, you’re seeing tone in action.